Innovative Anti-Typhoid Vaccine Launched

Innovative Indian pharmaceutical firm Bharat Biotech has launched what it claims is the first ever clinically-proven anti-typhoid vaccine designed for patients aged six months and upwards.

According to a press release issued by Bharat Biotech on 26 August 2013, the vaccine ‘brings hope to millions…by protecting against typhoid fever caused by Salmonella typhi, a highly virulent and invasive enteric bacterium.’

This new vaccine is so important because, currently, typhoid vaccines fail to provide long-term protection or protect those less than 24 months old.

In development for the past eight years, Bharat’s Typbar-TCV vaccine has been trialled on 1,200 patients. This Phase III clinical trial showed that Typbar-TCV was 98 per cent effective in children aged from six months to 24 months, 99 per cent effective for two-to-15 year olds and 92 per cent effective for those aged from 15 up to 45. It also demonstrated that Typbar-TCV was a safe vaccine, being well-tolerated by patients across the board.

Typbar-TCV: Typhoid Protection Vaccine

“Typhoid fever remains an important public health challenge in many countries of the world mainly because of poor diagnostics and increasing resistance to antibiotics”, the company said in its Typbar-TCV typhoid protection vaccine launch press release.

“At present, fundamental prevention strategies like improved sanitation, good hygienic practices and access to clean water are still out of reach for many impoverished communities. One of the most cost effective approaches to prevent infectious diseases, are vaccines which are available now and could help control the disease resulting in reduction of unnecessary suffering and adverse financial consequences.”

Typhoid fever is a potentially deadly condition produced by the salmonella typhi bacterium. Spread by contaminated food and drink, it infects up to 20 million of the world’s residents each year, killing some 250,000 of them. WHO (World Health Organization) data states that all but 10 per cent of the world’s typhoid infections occur in Asia and, in the main, the condition is contracted by children.

Antibiotics can get rid of typhoid fever but, with drug resistance on the rise, early prevention is a more favourable option.